Follow Me

Data Protection

Irish mobile broadband SIM card APN settings

If the device / modem shows a signal, but will not connect, it is very likely that the APN setting is incorrect, particularly if trying to use a phone SIM in a modem/router. Most routers automatically configure the APN from the SIM or have preconfigured APNs per the SIM type, so it’s likely it is either trying to configure an obsolete APN or picking up an incorrect APN from the SIM.

Many Eir (Meteor) and Three masts will allow the SIM to connect with any APN name keyed in, except when roaming. With Eir, it can result in an intermittent connection where sometimes the router can connect in 3G mode and refusing to connect altogether in 4G mode. With Three, it varies from mast to mast with some 3G masts only accepting the correct APN for the type of SIM, e.g. 3ireland.ie for a Three phone SIM.

The APNs below are ones I’ve run into either trying SIMs myself or while helping people configure their forum/device such as with friends and on boards.ie. These are the main networks that offer data SIMs. I also included their phone SIM APNs for reference. Three is the only network I’m aware of that still offers public IP addresses with their data plans, required for remote access such as CCTV and home server access.

As far as I am aware of, none of the main Irish networks require a username or password. If a dial-up number is required, it is *99#

Note: If the device is showing ‘No Signal’ or No Service’, it is not an APN issue. The APN is only required to establish an Internet connection, which occurs after the device has established a connection with the network. The above right screenshot shows an example where the router has a connection to the network (3 bar signal), but is disconnected due to an incorrect APN setting.

Note that Lyca mobile actively blocks tethering on its network, so its SIMs will unlikely work in a router either, at least not without involving other tweaks such as tweaking the computer’s TTL value.

Three / O2

3ireland.ie (Three phone SIM)

3internet (Three data SIM, public IP address*)

3broadband.ie (Three data SIM, private IP address)

nbs.ie (former NBS data SIM, private IP address)

internet (business phone & former O2 phone SIMs)

open.internet (former O2 data SIMs, private IP address)

open.internet.public (former O2 data SIMs, public IP address*)

*Public IP address may need to be requested

Note: Data roaming must be enabled to connect in 2G/3G mode with Three SIMs.

To check whether a Three phone SIM is a former O2 SIM, check the APN setting on the phone. If it is ‘3ireland.ie’, it is a native Three SIM and if it is ‘internet’, it is a native O2 SIM. Three still supplies O2 native SIMs with certain contracts, particularly iPhone and Business contracts. On most Android phones, the APN setting can be accessed by going into the Network settings menu and then into ‘Access point names’.

Warning! Using the incorrect APN with bill pay SIMs can result in auto-of-bundle charges even on the unlimited / All You Can Eat plans, especially with business, iPhone and former O2 plans. Some Three bill pay phones such as the iPhones are configured to use the open.internet APN for tethering, which will also result in out-of-bundle charges when attempting to tether directly from the handset (Hotspot mode).

Eir / Meteor

data.eir.ie (Eir phone SIM)

data.mymeteor.ie (phone SIM with Meteor branding)

broadband.mymeteor.ie (data SIM with Meteor branding)

broadband.myeirmobile.ie (data SIM with Eir branding)

isp.mymeteor.ie (older Meteor data SIM, 3G-only)

wap.mymeteor.ie (older Meteor phone APN)

eircom.ie (older Eir phone SIM, may use Meteor’s APN)

broadband.eircommbb.ie (older Eir data SIM APN, public IP address*)

*Public IP addresses are not offered by Eir/Meteor. They may still be available by request on Eir data SIMs.

Update: One person with an older Meteor SIM let me know that the ‘isp.mymeteor.ie’ APN will no longer connect in 4G mode. This happened shortly after the brand change to Eir. I also tried this APN with a more recent Meteor SIM and it could only connect in 3G mode with this APN. For anyone with this issue, try the ‘broadband.mymeteor.ie’ or ‘broadband.myeirmobile.ie’ APN. With my prepay Meteor broadband SIM, these are the only APNs that will connect in 4G mode.

Vodafone

live.vodafone.com (phone data bundle)

hs.vodafone.ie (broadband bundle)

Warning! The APN must match the type of data bundle, otherwise it incurs out-of-bundle charges. All bill pay data SIMs use the hs APN. The day/week/month passes on prepay also use the hs APN. All phone data bundles including the €20 top-up for 5GB data plan use the live APN.

Note: Unlike other networks, Vodafone issues the same prepay SIM for both mobile phones and data devices. When registering for My Vodafone, it will ask whether the SIM will be placed in a phone or modem. It will then show the relevant bundles. As mentioned already, it is essential that the correct APN is configured on the device as attempting to use a phone data bundle with the hs.vodafone.ie APN will incur out-of-bundle charges as if no bundle was present.

The bundles can be viewed by expanding the ‘Mobile broadband add-ons’ at the bottom of the ‘Buy an add on’ page in My Vodafone:

If a Vodafone SIM that was used in a router/SIM is to be later used in a phone or vice versa, this setting can be changed by going into the ‘Manage My Details’ link at the top right in My Vodafone, then go into ‘Change personal details’ and then ‘Edit details’ and change the account type drop-down to select ‘Mobile Broadband User’ or ‘Mobile Phone User’.

iD Mobile

internet (phone and data SIMs)

Note: iD Mobile needs to connect to the network in 3G mode first, so if the device is not showing a signal, make sure it is not set to 4G only mode. Once it connects in 3G mode, it can take roughly 10 minutes before it switches over to 4G mode. If the connection drops, it will need to reconnect back in 3G mode.

Data Roaming must be enabled to connect.

Update 6th March 2018: iD Mobile has gone into provisional liquidation. The network will cease operation on the 4th April 2018.

Rural Wi-Fi

3ireland.ie (data SIM, private IP address)

Tesco Mobile

tescomobile.liffeytelecom.com (phone SIM)

tmidata (data SIM)

Note: Data Roaming must be enabled to connect.

Other

If you have come across any other data APN names, feel free to mention them below.

Hi Sharon.
The APN settings are in the router not the SIM.
If its a Huawei router, get the Hi Link app on your phone.
This is the easy way to adjust Huawei routers.

If not, you should be able to access the router settings via the router’s web interface.
Connect your laptop or other device to your router.
Enter the router’s IP address into the URL line of your web browser.
(Do not enter in the search line!)
You may find the address on a label on the back, or inside the battery cover/compartment of the router.
The address is usually 192.168.1.1
Sometimes 192.168.1.254
If neither of these work, use an app, tool or some other way of discovering what the router’s IP address is.

Hi Dave, I also got the three prepay phone sim.
but I’m unable to get a public IP on my Huawei B525 with the APN 3internet.
I have a WAN IP that starts with 10.207… and that is different from what I get on whatismyip.com
Any specific configuration you did? I would also like to have remote access to my pc.
thanks in advance,
Cory

The two different public IPs issue, is probably the trouble.
When I came across the problem I was unable to find a way around it.
It might be due to Three piggybacking on the O2 network!?
A legacy that still hasn’t been resolved in some areas.

Give your LAN device (server, camera, DVR etc.) a static Local IP address. (Disable DHCP).
Find out which ports it uses for web access.
I use the “Fing” app for android.

There is no special set up on my B525
On the router’s web interface…
Login as admin

Go to Settings>Dial Up>profile management>new profile
Add a new profile for Three
Set the APN: 3internet. No user or password required.

Go to Settings>Security>Virtual Server
Add one or more forwarding rules for the LAN device using the ports and IP address you assigned it.

Go to Settings>Security>DDNS
Add your dynamic DNS service.
This allows you to use a URL that will track the public IP address of your modem/router, which changes after every reboot.

Firewall settings don’t have to be altered.

Curiously… At Settings>Dial Up>Connect
I have to leave Mobile Data Off!!!
I can also leave Data Roaming, Disabled in my area too.
(Manorhamilton, Co. Leitrim). If Three is using the O2 network in your area, you might have to switch roaming on.

Thank you for the detailed explanations!
Indeed the problem was that I was having two IPs. I kept having them until I completely switched off and on the router.
This might have come from the fact that I tested a sim from eir and that I never switched my router off after changing the sim.
Now I have a public IP. And, following your instructions, I got the port forwarded and the ddns setup in no time!
By the way, on the router interface, the data ‘off’, is a button so when you see ‘off’, it means it’s ‘on’, and you can click to turn it ‘off’. (When I do this, my connection is reset and I get a new IP.)

Cheers Cory.
No matter how many times we tell other people “just switch it off and on again”, we do forget to do it ourselves.
So that’s a toggle button… Ha!
Duh! Now I deserve a Homer award!
Good luck.
Dave